Players who have won both the Russian tournaments on the pro tour

Sep 28 6 min read

10:25 am


On the ATP World Tour, Russia hosts two important tournaments during the tailend of the season, each of which rewards its victor with 250 ranking points. These events are held at St. Petersburg and Moscow and both are over two decades old. In 1990, by the efforts of tennis promoter Sasson Khakshouri, the Kremlin Cup became Russia’s first ever International Tennis tournament and five years later, the St. Petersburg Open followed it in the same distinction.

As far as the surface is concerned, the Kremlin Cup was played on carpet up until 2007, after which it was permanently played on hard court. However, St. Petersburg had a frequent seesaw between hard and carpet courts. From 1995-1999 and 2004-2007, it was played on carpet whereas in the remaining years up until recent times, it is played on hard surface. The Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex was home of the St. Petersburg Open up until 2013. The competition was not held in 2014 and after that the Sibur Arena became the new battleground for claiming the title at St. Petersburg Open. Only four players have been able to win titles at both St.Petersburg and Moscow. Of those, only one has won both the tournaments in the same calendar year.

1. Yevgeny Kafelnikov

In the inaugural edition of the St. Petersburg Open, former World No.1 and two-time grand slam champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov was the top seed for the event. Kafelnikov reached the final, dropping only one set en route and faced unseeded player Guillaume Raoux for the title. Kafelnikov defeated him 6-2 6-2 to win the first ever St. Petersburg Open and his then fifth career title overall.

The following year, Kafelnikov returned to the final of the St. Petersburg Open but lost to Magnus Gustafsson in straight sets. Later that year, Kafelnikov reached the final of the Kremlin Cup for the first time in his career. There, he was defeated by Goran Ivanisevic 3-6 6-1 6-3. In 1997, the Russian made it to the final of the Kremlin Cup yet again. This time he won the title, defeating Petr Korda 7-6 6-4. But that was not all the glory that Kafelnikov achieved at the Kremlin Cup. From 1997 to 2001, he won five consecutive titles and is until now the most successful player at Moscow.

2. Mikhail Youzhny

In 2004, three of the top five seeds at the St. Petersburg Open were Russians – Marat Safin (1), Mikhail Youzhny (4), Nikolay Davydenko (5). Top seeded Marat Safin bowed out in the quarter-finals, losing to Michael Llodra. Nikolay Davydenko would fall to Karol Beck in the second round, who would later defeat Michael Llodra in the semi-finals to set up a clash with Mikhail Youzhny for the title match. Except for his quarter-final win against Julien Benneteau, Youzhny had dropped a set in each of his matches en route the final. However, in the final, the Russian would defeat his Slovak opponent 6-2 6-2 to win his first title at St. Petersburg.

Five years later, Youzhny was seeded third at the 2009 Kremlin Cup where his compatriot Nikolay Davydenko was the top seed. Davydenko lost in the opening round against unseeded player Marat Safin, who was then bundled out in the next round by Evgeny Korolev. Mikhail Youzhny cruised into the final without dropping a set and would face Janko Tipsarevic for the championship. The Serb would take the opening set in a tiebreaker that he won 7-5. However, Youzhny came back to take the final two sets 6-0 6-4 and became only the second player and also the second Russian to win titles at least once at St.Petersburg and Moscow. Youzhny’s win at St. Petersburg in 2004 and at the Kremlin Cup in 2009 is also the last time that a Russian won these two tournaments.

3. Marin Cilic

In 2011, Janko Tipsarevic won the Kremlin Cup, defeating compatriot Viktor Troicki in the final. In the following week, Tipsarevic reached the final at St. Petersburg and was attempting to become the first player to win titles at St. Petersburg and Moscow in the same calendar year. Gilles Simon was the top seed for the event but lost to fellow Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the opening round. Fourth seed Marin Cilic defeated the fifth seeded Mikhail Youzhny to reach the final. On the other side of the net, Cilic was up against Tipsarevic who had dropped only a single set in the entire week. However, Cilic defeated Tipsarevic 6-3 3-6 6-2 to win his first title at St. Petersburg.

In 2007, Cilic was defeated in the Round of 16 at the Kremlin Cup. Years later in 2014, he made a second appearance at Moscow. He was the second seed of the event and was a favourite for the title after top seeded Milos Raonic was defeated by Ricardas Berankis in the opening round. Cilic reached the final dropping only two sets and was up against Roberto Bautista Agut in the final, who was yet to drop a set in the tournament. Cilic won the match 6-4 6-4 and became the third player and the first non-Russian player to win titles at St. Petersburg and Moscow. Cilic and Bautista Agut would contest the final the following year and the Croatian would win with the same scoreline to successfully defend his title.

4. Damir Dzumhur

In 2017, with strong competitors like Roberto Bautista Agut, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Fabio Fognini in the draw, it was Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Damir Dzumhur who was the surprise element in the St. Petersburg Open. Second seed Tsonga lost to Jan-Lennard Struff in the quarter-finals. In the semis, Struff was up against Dzumhur, who had upset sixth seed Paolo Lorenzi in the opening round. Dzumhur defeated Struff 6-3 7-5 to reach the final. Top seed Bautista Agut and third seed Fognini decided the outcome of their match in three sets as the Italian eventually won 2-6 7-6 7-6. In the final, Fognini would begin strongly, taking the opening set 6-3. However, Dzumhur would stage a massive fightback, which ultimately resulted in Fognini losing the final two sets 6-4 6-2. Damir Dzumhur had won his first ever ATP World Tour level title.

A month later, Dzumhur was seeded sixth for the Kremlin Cup. He reached the semi-finals and defeated countryman and qualifier Mirza Basic 6-0 7-6. Basic had defeated Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals who had in turn defeated top seed Pablo Carreno Busta in the second round. Ricardas Berankis had entered the tournament with a protected ranking and had made the most of it, defeating third seed Adrian Mannarino in the semi-finals. Mannarino had won against lucky loser Alexander Bublik in the quarter-finals who had ousted second seed Albert Ramos Vinolas in the second round. In the final, Dzumhur defeated Berankis 6-2 1-6 6-4 to become the first man to win the titles at St. Petersburg and Moscow in the same calendar year.